The present invention relates to material handling apparatus and particularly to a system for testing sensors employed to control a load handling vehicle.
In warehousing systems where vehicles are employed for transporting articles and materials into and out of storage locations located in an array of storage bins, a variety of sensors are employed. Such sensors include, for example, encoders which provide pulses, the number of which represent the distance a vehicle has traveled from a reference location, such that by counting the number of pulses, the position of a vehicle can be coarsely estimated, speed tachometers, address readers, and load detecting sensors to name a few.
As vehicle controls become more advanced, a greater number of sensors can be used to accurately control both the positioning and movement of a load handling vehicle. The use of more sensors to provide more sophisticated control of the vehicle however provides a greater opportunity for sensor failure which could, in turn, cause serious vehicle control malfunctions.